Micro-processor controls for automobiles and other motor vehicles are known and are described, for example, in the following technical literature: "Electronics", Jan. 20, 1977, page 102 ff; "Electronic Design", No. 1, Jan. 4, 1977, p. 34 ff; SAE-paper No. 750432, "Application of Microprocessors to the Automobile", p. 65 ff; "Elektrotechnische Zeitschrift", vol. 28, 1976, No. 15, p. 496 ff; "Computer", August 1974, page 33 ff.
In addition, hard-wired calculators for controlling the functions in a motor vehicle or in a combustion engine are known, e.g. from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,069 (corresponding to U.S. application Ser. No. 660,858, filed Feb. 24, 1976), MAYER et al.
Diagnostic equipment for connection to sensors in motor vehicles is known. Such diagnostic equipment is connected by means of an intermediate plug which can be plugged into a matching socket in the vehicle. The sensors deliver their signals directly to the diagnostic equipment. There, after being converted, shaped and processed, if necessary, these signals are displayed or processed further. Such diagnostic equipment often is complex and costly and is generally suited only for checking relatively few operational parameters or sensors in the powered vehicle.